Wonders of the World (Version 1.4)
So, a band of hunter-gatherers is following you around and asking for guidance? Why not use them for world domination until they get sick enough to launch you into space? But you're safe for now, space hasn't been invented yet. There is nothing but Mother Earth and Father Sky. Let's think about other Wonders of the World that you can build. Before we start, let's learn the rules about the wonders: # Each city can build one wonder. Once it's built and activated, it CANNOT BE DEMOLISHED. # Wonders have a competing distance. Once you finish a wonder and activate it, nobody else will be able to build the same wonder within that distance. This means you can deny an enemy country their wonder if you build yours first. # Construction can't be sped up with luck coins. # If someone scouts your city, each scout will delay construction by 1 minute - even if you kill every enemy scout. So, let's start with the early wonders: Pagan Temple (+5 population growth) This may seem like an insignificant benefit at first glance. New leaders may think "Why would I spend several days of construction time and give up my wonder to build something worse than a level 20 shack!?" However, this is actually a very good choice. * The population gain will be multiplied when you start consuming food (rice, fruit, etc.,) in the midgame. * The bonus will never be obsolete. Early game you'll grow faster than your neighbors. Later you will have many population-draining structures, and the temple will offset some of the loss. * Cheap. You can start building it with the last scraps of wood and fruit in your hut. By the time the timer runs out, you will have gathered and plundered more. * Doesn't restrict your city building choices. A manufacturing hub, research center, or military base all can use the bonus. You can build the temple even if you don't know what resource deposits are around you or what kind of city you'll build. Verdict: Fantastic! Sacrificial Altar (Doubles fight pit speed, +5% efficiency of barracks) The first available military wonder. Just as cheap as the fantastic Pagan Temple. However, this one should be avoided because prehistoric units are horrible. Consider a Warrior (12 carry capacity, 40 resources to train, 1 food per hour). He will eat 24 food in 1 day, which means it takes two trips per day to feed himself. Also, if that citizen had not been trained into a warrior, he could make over 24 food per day working in the collector's hut. A warrior needs to make at least four raids and fill his pockets just to pay for himself. Don't forget the 3 raids he needs to buy back the 40 resources you spent to train him. Now go to the combat simulator, and watch a fight of warriors vs. Horsemen or Archers, units that can be built less than 2 weeks into the game. Now why would you want a wonder that helps you ruin your precious starting population faster? Verdict: Aptly named because it sacrifices your Wonder of the World spot. Earthen Dam (+80 fish per hour) Here fishy fishy fishy! When it's built, you can redirect your entire population to science and gathering wood, using fish as food. You will still have more than you can use early game. You can start consuming it to increase population growth. The drawback is you need to research boats, which doesn't unlock anything useful except for letting you see whales. As you develop into the midgame, the bonus becomes less significant. The extra 100 population from Earth Mother can catch more fish if put to work. Still, if there's an earthen dam in your country, you won't need a farming city until later, and capture more strategic resources like granite while instead. * Will compete for wood with your other construction projects. Verdict: Reasonable choice. Geoglyph (+15 science per hour) Don't like waiting a day for the next scientific breakthrough? Then make a giant crop circle outside your home! Many veteran players criticize the geoglyph for becoming outdated after countries start to form. While true, if you're not your country's sage, then it will be worthless. You can research 30 science per hour with the level 12 petroglyph you built to complete the quests, why bother with geoglyph? Nevertheless it justifies its cost and is a good use of your wonder. * If you have one, you will serve your first country well as its first sage. Later of course, a proper research town will outclass it and should become the country sage. * Researching the science needed, Agriculture, unlocks many useful resource deposits. * The burst in science that the geoglyph will give you over your opponents can be used to identify critical deposits of granite and metal first, and reserve the best spots for your second or third city. Verdict: Fantastic in the opening, but don't bother later in the game. Earth Mother (+100 culture) Contends to be the best wonder in the game. Unlocked with the same science that reveals granite deposits. The extra 100 population can be expanded to 150 and higher by consuming cultural commodities. That population can be put to work researching more than the Geoglyph, catching more fish than the Earthen Dam. It costs a few scraps of granite, but construction can start with just wood and food for the first levels. In the midgame when it's harder to build a wonder because of competing distances there will be spots that can have an Earth Mother. It will never become obsolete. An extra 100 citizens over your neighboring cities working in your farms, sawmills, and forges will give you a nice advantage that cities with other wonders just can't match. Verdict: Fantastic + Oracle (See the size of enemy attacks on any city, only works on Saturday and Sunday) In their first game world, many newbies see this and think "what... Why... Who thought this was useful?" The Oracle begins to shine later in the game, and is the first good military wonder. * As the map is uncovered, you will encounter distant enemies. Their attacks take over a day to reach you, so any attack on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday will be revealed. Going to war against you now becomes extremely awkward for the enemy, who has to either let you rebuild on the weekend or attack into prepared defenses. * When your country is attacked, lots of "spam attacks" will fly to all allied cities to conceal their target so you can't concentrate defenses. The Oracle will reveal which attacks on your cities are fake. * Built with food, a very abundant resource that doesn't compete with construction of military bases or research cities. * Nothing more satisfying than massing a defensive garrison with your country and wiping out an enemy invasion disguised in lots of spam.